Reassuringly familiar, if a little bit flashier, the longsuffering but thankful NQ Arbuckle wins
another battle against the urge to cut and run with Love Songs For The Long Game. For an
artist whose songs have always grappled with the panic that comes with both asking and
answering the question 'Why am I doing this?' NQ Arbuckle has found his place writing
seafarer songs for drinking on dry land, for our labours of love large and small. These are
songs to magic our straw into gold, songs to keep the dread at bay. Songs that keep
promises, long after those ships have sailed away.
Not fully nostalgic, not simply regretful, Love Songs For The Long Game is for those who
seek balance between constancy and recklessness, between last call and first light. The
album, like the rest of NQ Arbuckle’s catalogue, is both a grand gesture and a humble
offering, honouring our commitments to family, to love and to keeping that creative spark
flickering. This is no bird’s eye view, but a view from the ground, in all its messy wonder.
NQ Arbuckle is a Toronto songwriter and namesake of a twice JUNO Award-nominated
Toronto band. His 2002 Six Shooter cult classic debut Hanging The Battle-Scarred Pinata,
produced by Luke Doucet, launched a fervent fanbase devoted to shouting his lyrics back at
him, an impressive collection of print clippings, and a sporadic touring career in which NQ
Arbuckle careened from Italy to Northern Alberta, Huntsville to Nashville. On 'Love Songs
For The Long Game,' NQ Arbuckle’s newest song, Doucet returns as producer. Recorded at
The Bathouse in Kingston, ON, engineered by Nyles Spencer and mixed by Howie Beck, the
new album also features playing by original members of NQ Arbuckle band Peter Kesper
and Mark Kesper, and superlative keyboard player Robbie Grunwald.
